Hermine was upgraded to a Hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico around 20 UTC on 01 September 2016. GOES-13 (GOES-East) Visible (0.63 µm) images (above) showed improvement in the appearance of curved banding structures around the eye late in the day. The GOES-13 satellite had been placed into Rapid Scan Operations (RSO) mode, providing images as frequently as every 5-7 minutes. Note that Hurricane Hermine developed from Tropical Invest 99L, which was sampled by 1-minute GOES-14 imagery beginning on 25 August; unfortunately, the 1-minute Super Rapid Scan Operations for GOES-R (SRSO-R) test period ended at 1115 UTC on 29 August (however, imaging of the evolution of Tropical Depression 9 to Hurricane Hermine continued at 15-minute intervals).

The corresponding GOES-13 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images (below) revealed the eventual formation of a distinct eye, with bursts of convection exhibiting cloud-top IR brightness temperatures in the -75º to -80º C range (shades of white to violet pixels) in the western and southern semicircles of the eyewall region. Hermine became the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma in 2005.

A Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image visualized using RealEarth(below) provided a detailed view of the curved banding around the western and southern portion of the eye.

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color image [click to enlarge]

A comparison of DMSP-17 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) and GOES-13 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images around 2315 UTC (below) depicted a much larger eye presentation on microwave vs infrared — the microwave image showed the curved banding structure around an eye that was still not well-organized.

Morphed Total Precipitable Water derived from MIRS sensors [click to play animation]

===== Post-landfall Update, 02 September =====

Suomi-NPP overflew Hermine shortly after 0700 UTC on 02 September, after its 0530 UTC landfall near St. Mars FL. The toggle below shows the VIIRS 0.7 µm Day/Night Band and the 11.45 µm Infrared Window imagery. Both show the asymmetric nature of the storm. Rain and clouds extend quite a distance to the south and east of the storm, but not far to the west. The infrared imagery shows cold cloud tops surrounding the storm center southeast of Tallahassee, with very cold cloud tops also over Tampa FL and near Savannah GA with bands associated with the storm. Cloud detail is missing in the Day/Night Band image because of the lack of lunar illumination — a New Moon occurred early on 01 September — however, high-altitude mesosphericairglow waves (references: 1 | 2 | 3) can be seen off the east coast of Florida and Georgia, excited by Hermine’s bands of strong thunderstorms.

A toggle between Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 0707 UTC on 03 September (above; courtesy of William Straka, SSEC) showed that Hermine — still being classified as a Tropical Storm — continued to produce mesospheric airglow waves as it moved off the East Coast of the US. Numerous bright white streaks were also evident on the Day/Night Band image, due to cloud illumination from intense lightning activity.

During the following daylight hours of 03 September, GOES-13 (GOES-East) Visible (0.63 µm) images (below: also available as an MP4 animation) showed the circulation of post-tropical cyclone Hermine. In eastern North Carolina, winds gusts as high as 80 mph were recorded, with rainfall amounts as great as 8.54 inches (NWS Newport/Morehead City); the storm also produced a few tornadoes (SPC Storm Reports). In southeastern Virginia, winds gusted to 73 mph (NWS Wakefield). A few of the heavier rainfall amounts for individual states are listed here.

GOES-14 SRSO-R Imagery is being produced over the Greater Antilles on 25 August 2016 to monitor a tropical wave (Invest 99L) that is moving towards Florida and the southeast United States. The visible animation above shows a highly sheared system: a low-level circulation center (LLCC) is evident north of Hispaniola and east of the Turks and Caicos, but strong convection (overshooting tops are readily apparent) is displaced well to the east of the system. There is also considerable convection over Hispaniola.

A 2-panel comparison of GOES-14 Visible and Infrared Window images, below (also available as a large 200 Mbyte animated GIF), provided a slightly closer view of the LLCC feature.

Wind shear analyses from the CIMSS Tropical Weather site, below, show the surface circulation is within a small ribbon of relatively strong shear. Development chances will increase if the wind shear relaxes. A GOES-13 Visible image with overlays of satellite winds and wind shear is available here.

Invest 99L developed into Tropical Depression 09 around 21 UTC on 28 August. A comparison of 1-minute GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) and Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images, above (also available as a large 94 Mbyte animated GIF), showed the tropical depression as it moved westward through the Florida Straits.

The GOES-14 satellite was in SRSO-R mode on 22 August 2016, providing images at 1-minute intervals over the western United States. A 3-panel comparison of Visible (0.63 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images (above; also available as a large 110 Mbyteanimated GIF) showed that there were multiple bursts of pyrocumulus (pyroCu) clouds over the Rey Fire in southern California — while the bulk of the smoke was being transported westward over the offshore waters of the Pacific Ocean, smoke that was ejected to higher altitudes by the pyroCu clouds sent a plume of smoke drifting to the southeast.

The nearby Vandenberg rawinsonde data profile (below) suggests that the pyroCu clouds vertically lofted smoke to an altitude of at least 6.7 km (the 449 mb pressure level), where winds shifted to a northwesterly direction. However, since the pyroCu cloud-top IR brightness temperatures never even made it to -20º C (cyan color enhancement on the bottom panels), the smoke probably wasn’t much higher than the 6.7 km altitude (sounding data).

Vandenberg Air Force Base rawinsonde report [click to enlarge]

A comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images displayed using RealEarth(below) showed the dense plume of smoke drifting westward away from the active fire area (brighter shades of pink on the false-color image), along with a pyroCu cloud over the fire and the early stage of the southeastward-moving smoke plume aloft.

The Pioneer Fire in central Idaho produced another pyroCumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud on 21 August 2016 (the first was on 19 August). GOES-14 was in SRSO-R mode, and sampled the fire with 1-minute imagery (above;also available as a large 73 Mbyte animated GIF) — a large smoke plume was evident on 0.63 µm Visible images as it moved eastward; large fire hot spots (red pixels) were seen on 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared images; on 10.7 µm Infrared Window images, the cloud-top IR brightness temperature cooled to -35º C (darker green enhancement) between 2249-2307 UTC as it moved over Stanley Ranger Station (KSNY), not quite reaching the -40º C threshold to be classified as a pyroCb.

The Pioneer Fire continued to be very active on 22 August (exceeding 100,000 acres in total burn coverage since its start on 18 July), sending a large amount of smoke northeastward (OMPS Aerosol Index). During the following overnight hours, cold air drainage and the development of a boundary layer temperature inversion acted to trap a good deal of smoke in the Payette River valley to the west/southwest of Stanley KSNT. The active fire hot spots (black to yellow to red pixels) were evident on nighttime (1032 UTC or 4:32 AM local time) images (above) of Suomi NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) data, while illumination from the Moon (in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 69% of Full) showed the ribbon of smoke trapped in the valley (note that this signal was not due to fog, since it did not show up in the VIIRS 11.45-3.74 µm brightness temperature difference or “fog/stratus product”).

During the subsequent daytime hours of 23 August, 1-minute GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) images (below; also available as a large 114 Mbyteanimated GIF) showed the gradual ventilation of smoke from the Payette River valley as the temperature inversion eroded and mixing via winds increased.